The Devil and Carson, part 3

by Zee and Windstar

“Would
you look at the size of these houses?”Emily let out a low whistle.“No
wonder Sam acts like she has a stick up her ass.It’s actually a silver spoon.”The smallest house, no she was going to call them what it was, mansion
had easily been larger than most of the clubs she hung out at.There was no doubt; this was the land of the
privileged.

Jahor
just tried to focus on what he was doing.The rain was making everybody else out on the roads drive like
morons."What address am I looking
for?"

Shaggy’s
face was highlighted in the light from his laptop screen, making him look even
sicklier and paler looking than normal."Um.”He alt-tabbed
switching screens.“3414,” he mumbled
then went back to the FBI occult page he was currently hacking into."So, the last site said demons love
souls that are perfectly balanced between good and evil and will often times
take them as pets or slaves to tip the balance.Also this gives the demon eyes and ears to get into places protected
from their kind.”He hummed to himself
as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

“I
still can’t believe that there’s an FBI site on the occult.How did you find out about this thing?”Emily tried to crane around so that she
could look at the screen again.“Is
there anything about us on there?”

Jay
had to shove Emily sideways so that he could see the road, grumbling about
children.“We’re nearly there.I think that last palace we passed was
3401.”

Shaggy
looked up blinking."Um, this guy
I blog with, Reddevil18, told me about how the FBI has some task force that
looks into occult based crimes.I
thought he was joking, seemed a little too X-files for me, but turns out he was
right.However," the young
uber-geek frowned."It’s harder to
hack into than the Vatican.”An icon
flashed on the laptop letting him know he had mail.

Clicking
it open he read it with a frown."Uh, well, hmmm.Reddevil8
just emailed me back.He says that if
our friend is a pet to this demon we're all in danger, especially anyone our
friend might be romantically involved with.”He glanced up looking relieved."Good thing Ms. Bitch and Carson broke up then.”

“There
it is!” Jay announced with pleasure and promptly took the turn too fast.The car fishtailed and bounced up over the
curb to slide to a stop across the entrance of the driveway.“I meant to do that,” he hastily announced,
to the dubious looks of the other passengers.

“I’m
driving on the way back,” Emily announced, jumping out of the passenger side
door.

Shaggy
scrambled around, picking up several pieces of electronics that sported glowing
buttons and knobs then, as he got out of the back seat trying to protect his
precious gadgets from the rain, he said."How are we getting in, it’s gated?"

Jahor
rolled his eyes."The hired help
always has their own entrance.Come
on.”He marched around the brick wall
to the kitchen entrance.

“They
do?”Emily shrugged; she thought that
was only in movies.“Huh, would you
look at that, there is a servant’s entrance.”The gate was even open.The Goth
frowned, brushing wet hair out of her eyes.“Its not really a good sign that it’s open is it?”

"One
of my Uncles is a doctor at Stanford he has a house that is very similar.”Jahor wiped rain out of his face."I, I don't really know if that gate
being open is a good thing or a bad thing.”

She
gave a tap on the kitchen door and looked up at him with an arched eyebrow when
it swung open easily.

Shaggy
shivered and his eyes darted around."Guys, I feel like were being watched.”He made a little eep noise, the kind a baby chick might make, as
he spotted a woman across the street staring at them.He was positive she hadn't been there a second ago.

"What?"Emily whirled around; blinking in the rain
as she tried to see who it was that had caused Shaggy to be surprised.Seeing nothing and no one, she looked at him
with a frown.

The
woman seemed to be untouched by the rain, her eyes devouring them, and then she
grinned.Shaggy whimpered."That woman right there,” he shrieked,
backing away.

"What
woman...AH!"Emily shrieked in surprise as she suddenly
spotted the stranger.There was
something oddly familiar about her and she pushed backwards, shoving Jay into
the kitchen whether he wanted to go or not.

Jahor
turned scanning the street."I
don't see anything....”He trailed off
and then spouted out something in his native language that sounded suspiciously
like a prayer against evil and let Emily push them into the house.The woman was coming at them now moving
faster than anybody possibly should.

"Close
the door!Close the door!"Emily was well aware she was yelling but
didn't really care as the three of them tumbled into the kitchen.

A
bright blue light flared in the doorway blinding everybody, but for a moment
the woman looked a lot less womanly. The demon stood outside the door laughing."I'll get you soon enough, Emily.”Then Jahor kicked out catching the door with
his foot and slammed it closed.

Sprawled
on the floor, tangled up with the two guys, panting from the sudden spurt of
adrenaline, Emily stuttered, "Did that...thing… just say my name?"She'd been listening to a lot of loud music recently; maybe her hearing
was still messed up.

Shaggy
looked up from where he was hyperventilating on the floor and screamed again as
he saw another scary lady looking down at him.

Samantha
stared down at the three sopping wet people sprawled out on the floor of her
parent's kitchen."Where the hell
did you three come from?"She
glanced worriedly over her shoulder."It doesn't matter, you have to leave.”

Jahor
looked at Shaggy and Emily for a moment before standing up."We can't, we, uh, well...You see, Emily got hit on by
Carson....”He winced."Wait let me phrase that better.”He blew out a breath."Emily thinks there's something wrong
with Carson and we need your help.”He
looked at the other two hoping someone could explain what was going on better.

"Wait,
what did you say?Carson hit on
you?"Samantha tried to glare down
at Emily but it was fairly obvious her heart just wasn't in it."Carson's acting strange, well,
stranger than usual.I think she just
threatened my mother and she just outed me to my family.”That last bit hurt more than she was going
to admit.

The
three stooges just stared at each other."Wait, Carson's here?" Jahor asked.

“How
did she beat us here?”Emily shoved
Shaggy’s leg off her stomach and stood up, looking past Samantha, trying to
spot Carson somewhere deeper in the house.

Samantha
grabbed Jahor and helped him up, while Shaggy scrabbled up and then went right
to the door, making sure to lock it just in case the demon decided to get
inside.

“Yes
she’s here, and she’s acting very weird and kind of scary to be honest.”

"We
think she's been turned into some demon's pet,” Shaggy said absently as he
checked over his gadgets, making sure they were all right.

Demons.

Samantha
narrowed her eyes.That sounded
familiar for some reason, but she wasn’t sure why.Her eyes widened as she suddenly placed why it sounded familiar.

“One
of you opened a gate didn’t you?I knew
there had to be a reason for all those dead Goth girls that were in my father’s
files.”She stopped and eyed Emily who
glared right back.

“What?I didn’t do anything with any demon raising
ceremony!”

Shaggy's
eyes went wide."You were present
when the demon was summoned.”He
dropped his backpack and snatched up his beloved laptop."See, according to this occult site, a
demon can only be sent back by one of the people who summoned it.So the first thing it does if it breaks free
from the summoning circle is to kill everyone present.”

He
showed the website with pictures of a failed summoning according to the
captions next to the pictures.

Jahor's
eyes went wide as well."That
first shift after the Thanksgiving break, Carson asked how the demon raising
went.You had left with some girl from
the bar.I remember because she was all
beat up from that riot at the after Thanksgiving sale.”

“And
I told you I did no such raising thing.I had a lot of hot sex that night that was all!”Emily was really trying to be firm about
that, but she wasn’t at all as certain as she tried to sound.That doubt showed in her eyes.

“You
have to face her.The demon.You have to face her and send her back
before Carson….”Samantha stopped as
Jay and Shaggy went white, looking over her shoulder.The former librarian winced and slowly turned around smiling what
she hoped was at least a normal smile.“Hi Carson.”

"Hi
Samantha.”Carson's red eyes flickered
over everybody."Hail, hail, the
gangs all here.”Her face was looking
even paler."I went upstairs
looking for you.You know, if we just
talk this through I'm sure we can work it out.”Her face looked dead serious for a moment before she burst out
laughing.

Very
slowly Samantha started to back away towards the door that hid the servant’s
stairs up to the second floor.She’d
been hoping to bolt out the kitchen door and get away, but the appearance of a
Demon outside made that impossible.Now
she just had to see if she could buy Emily time enough to go get rid of said
Demon.

“You
aren’t yourself right now, Carson.”

Shaggy
whimpered and whispered."I'm more
scared of Carson than Sam, right now.”

Jahor
just nodded in agreement.

Carson
just sneered."The heart can only
have one master Sam, and my Mistress is a little ticked you have a piece of my
heart.So since she's promised to
always love me and never leave, like everybody else in my fucking miserable
life, I'm a little inclined to do as she asks of me.She asked me to do a job but I can't do it properly with you
still in here.”She raised a clawed
hand and tapped her chest before letting her hand drop."You three stay here.I think Sam and I are going to have a little
chase scene, but I'll be right back to take care of you.”

“Emily,
whatever you are going to do, do it fast!” the half Japanese woman yelled as
she turned and fled up the stairs.So
much for getting out of the house, now she was running up the stairs in
something that was uncomfortably starting to feel like a horror movie.

Carson
just made a gun with her fingers, pointing at the threesome standing stunned in
the kitchen, and pulled the imaginary trigger."I'll see you cats and kittens later.”With that she proceeded up the stairs.

Shaggy
just gulped."Did...did Carson have horns?"

Jahor
rolled his eyes."It’s
Carson.She's always been horny.”

Emily
and Shaggy both backhanded him in the gut.

“What?”
he grumbled, rubbing his stomach, “It’s true.”

Samantha
didn’t hear any of that; she was concentrating on sprinting up the stairs and
reaching the door at the top before Carson got there.She tripped over the top stair, going sprawling.Using her leg, she kicked the door shut and
then crawled up to it to turn the lock.

“Damn
it” she swore, starting to get up.Now
what was she supposed to do; run around with a demonically possessed Carson
chasing around after her until she caught her?Then what?

Something
large hit the door making it shudder in the doorframe and sending Samantha
falling back to the floor.“Go away!”
she yelled, even though she knew that wasn’t going to do anything.“Great, now I’m acting like a star in one of
those horror movies, stupid lines and all.”Getting back to her feet again, the former librarian grabbed the nearest
chair and shoved it up under the door handle, trying to wedge it in place.

“Samantha.”It didn’t even really sound like Carson’s
voice and it was accompanied by the sound of nails being dragged along the door
hard enough to gouge the wood.“I just
want to talk.”

“Sure
you do, that’s why you’re doing that evil laugh!”She glanced behind her at the door that led down to the front of
the house.She might make it, but then
there was that demon outside and her family was down there.

Even
if Jonathan might deserve some personal time with a demon, she couldn’t get
them into trouble.

Carson
snarled at the door and then kicked it hard enough to rattle it on its
hinges."Come on, Sam.If I have to break this door down it’s just
going to piss me off that much more.”She slammed her fist into the wall and huffed in frustration."God damn it!How like you to just run off and hide, just when things are getting
a little difficult.For a mega bitch
you sure can dish it out, but you just can't take it.”

Talking
was good as far as Samantha was concerned.Actually, talking was great, as long as it bought Emily time to do
whatever the hell it was that she was going to do.“I’m sorry; is that what you want to hear?I’m sorry I freaked out.But you don’t know what my mother is like.Actually, wait; you do know what my mother
is like, you left her down stairs cowering in the corner.”

Carson
blinked for a second and her face shifted looking almost normal.She leaned against the wall; it was cold
against her back."It’s a little
late for sorry.Every action has an
equal and opposite reaction.Newton, I
think.”She chuckled, "Admit
it; you thought it was great the way your mom looked like she was going to
swallow her own tongue.And your
brother....”She trailed off."He's a prick.I can't believe he just got handed a college
education, and what the fuck does he do? He blows it.Do you know how hard I had to work to scrape
the money up to go and then med school?”

On
the other side of the door Samantha stepped closer to the door, her voice as
quiet as Carson’s, almost as if they were having a normal conversation.“I know, but he is the first son and therefore
can do no wrong in my parents’ eyes.My
mother’s idea of what I should have gotten for my education revolved around how
to plan the perfect wedding.”

Carson
slid down the wall laughing."The
perfect wedding.Oh my, I mean she knew
you were a lesbo, she paid Heather off to leave.Which makes me feel great, by the way I mean you only brought her
up all the time and compared us.But
you know for all my faults, I didn't leave you.”

That
had the bite of truth to it, which of course only made it hurt worse.Samantha closed her eyes, biting her lip to
avoid crying.“I didn’t know,” she
whispered, shaking her head angrily.“I
didn’t know she did that,” Samantha said in a louder, harsher voice, eyes
narrowing.“How did you know?”

Carson
shrugged."I don't know.I just did.I look at people now and just see their sins.You're brother's lies and debauched behavior, your mother's
pride, Jahor's guilt over masturbating, how Shaggy lusts for Emily, but
you...you I look at and I can't see a
damn thing.You're still a mystery to
me.”Again, Carson's heart constricted,
at war within itself. She grabbed her
chest and doubled over groaning and then she sat back up blinking her watering
eyes and wiped away black bile from her lips."You know, I think we're talking more now than we ever did when we
were dating.”

“Talking
is good,” Samantha said out loud, worried by the strange retching like sound
that Carson had just made.“Carson,
what happened?What does the Demon
want?”

"It
wants what every vile creature from hell wants: death, destruction, and
chaos.”She paused breathing out, and
smoke came out of her lungs, and her eyes turned a tad bit bluer.Carson grinned slightly, feeling like she
had a bit more control.She felt
heaver, like a little bit of her soul had come back.The wards on the house were making it harder for the demon's
influence to reach her.Right now, it
was trashing the car the trio had used to get here.

"It
doesn't want to be sent back and only way it can get sent back is if one of the
people who summoned it sends it back.Its killing all those stupid Goth wanna-be's.I was supposed to seduce Emily to get that cross she wears around
her neck off, that's what it wanted.”She got up to her knees and started slowly crawling to the servant’s
stairs.

If
she could just throw herself over the edge, her friends might live.Sure suicide was a sin and she'd be damned
to hell forever, but shit happens.Besides, as a demon’s thrall, she was probably condemned to hell anyway,
but she really didn't want to be responsible for anybodies death, especially
her friends, and particularly Sam.

Cursing
herself for doing something incredibly stupid, Samantha cracked the door
open."You're sounding more like
yourself.”She made sure that she could
slam it shut quickly incase this all turned out to be a trick.

Carson
paused on crawling towards the stairs and looked back."You shouldn't open the door, Sam; you
don't want to risk inviting evil in.”She didn't want to answer; she was feeling more like herself.She understood fundamentally that humans
were capable of great good and evil, but to have your soul stripped away taking
the very essence of that goodness and having to deal with the aftermath of seeing
how truly vile you could be was a little sickening.That and she knew all it took was for the demon to focus back on
her and she would be lost again.

"You
aren't evil.”Samantha was certain of
that, if nothing else.Considering the
circumstances, she even let pass the nickname.Very carefully she stepped out, leaving the door open behind her for a
quick retreat if necessary."You
might be annoying, abrasive, sometimes completely unreasonable, but you aren't
evil.You're being controlled.”Ever so carefully she inched closer.

Carson
turned back around and started crawling on her hands and knees."I'm not right now.But I invited that thing in, I agreed to be
its little pet, I could go all evil lap dog of Satan at any moment.Now get back inside that room and shut the
door.”

"What
are you doing?"Samantha frowned
as she watched.

"Nothing,”
Carson said evasively.

"Carson,
are you going to try to throw yourself down the stairs?"

"Now
that's a silly thing to do.Why ever
would I do something as painful as that?”

"I
don't know.You might somehow think
that throwing yourself down the stairs would keep you from hurting anyone.Of course you'd just be leaving me and
everyone else to deal with the Demon alone,” she pointed out reasonably, even
as she moved closer in case she had to lunge to try and stop Carson.

"The
house is warded.The demon can't get in
the house.But as long as I'm that
demon's bitch you all are in danger from me.Now go get back inside that room before that demon stops beating on that
car outside and realizes I'm not under her control anymore.”

"The
house is warded?"The dark haired
woman blinked in surprise then shook her head, saving that thought for
later."You have to talk to me
Carson.Help me beat her.”If only she had time to do some proper research,
find out what she could about demons and their subjects.

Carson
stopped moving and her head dropped to the floor."Emily has to do the banishment spell.Only Emily can send it back.”

"Good.What else?Does she have any weaknesses?Where does she nest?"Dimly
Samantha was aware that the tortured sound of metal being slammed by something
heavy and strong had stopped.

Carson
chuckled."The usual, symbols of
goodness and order.I don't know where
it hides out when it’s not causing chaos and destruction.”

There
was something...off about that chuckle
and Samantha took a slow, careful, step backwards towards the door behind
her."Fight her Carson, please.You have to fight her, stay with me.”

"Why
the hell should I?She promised never
to leave me.You on the other hand are
a very fickle bitch.”She snarled and
in a last ditch effort lunged for the stairway.

"No!"Without thought, Samantha lunged after her,
managing to grab onto the other woman's waist.They both nearly went down the stairs headfirst, but Samantha's added
weight stopped them short of it.

"Damn
it Sam!What the hell is wrong with
you?"Carson shouted."Do you want me to kill you all?That's what the little voice keeps telling
me to do in my head.”Carson shouted as
her head and hands hung over the edge of the stairwell.

"I'm
not letting you kill yourself, you idiot!” Samantha shouted back, still holding
onto Carson's waist and tangled with the larger woman's legs.

"I
won't tell anyone if you don't.”She
climbed up the other woman's torso so that she could look into her eyes."I'm serious Carson, no matter what she
does, you're still in there.I'm not
letting go of you that easily.”

"No.”Instead, she held the other woman's head,
trying to force her to meet her eyes."Look at me.I was an idiot
okay?I freaked out and took it out on
you.I'm sorry.I regretted it the instant I did it and
trust me I would much rather have had you here over the past few days.”Samantha grinned feebly."You know how to liven up an evening.”

"It’s
a talent.”Finally Carson sighed and
met Samantha's eyes.Her own eyes were
a faded blue but there was something in them dark and menacing."Well if you won't let me take the
cowards way out, I think its time we take our relationship to a new level.I think you need to tie me up somewhere.”

Samantha
waggled her eyebrows."I thought
you would never ask.”

###########################

Shaggy
looked up worried as he heard shouting."Jesus.Do you think Carson
is killing Sam?"He looked back
down at his laptop, "We need to make a circle out of salt and, and, I
think we need candles.”

"Candles?"Emily looked around the kitchen then ducked
into the dining room.She gave the
older woman and boy who were cowering in the corner a bright smile and grabbed
an ornate candle set off the sideboard and hurried back to the kitchen."Here.Candles.”She offered the set
that had obviously never been lit."Now what?"

"We
make a circle out of salt and place a candle at true north, south, east and
west then we summon the demon and banish it back to hell.”There came more loud noises from upstairs
then something howled with such rage and hatred from outside that Shaggy
seriously considered hiding under the table.

"Um,
by we.I mean Emily or anybody else who
was at the raising.”His eyes scanned
the text on the screen."Crap.”

Emily
craned her neck, wincing as she caught sight of the car that the demon had been
using as a punching bag."Umm...Shaggy, your
mother's car is having a bad day.”She
turned back at that."What?I have to summon that thing?Crap, what crap?What do I have to do?"

Shaggy's
tired blood shot eyes looked up.“We
need holy water, a bible and also the demon's name.You didn't happen to catch it while you were summoning it.”

Jay
finished rummaging through the cabinets and came up with a bag of salt which he
started to use to draw a circle of salt in the middle of the kitchen."I hope kosher salt will do it, ‘cause
that's all they have.No normal salt
for these people.”He grumbled.

"Name?What name?I don't even remember being there to summon her Shaggy!"She yelled, both eyebrows going up as the
beating of Shaggy's mother's car stopped.Another quick glance verified that the demon wasn't out front
anymore."Umm...guys' she's not out front anymore.”

##################################

Carson
looked around the room and said."This is hell.I'm going to
have to bleach my eyeballs.”She
winced."Do you have to tie it so
tight?And do I even want to know why
you have rope in your room.”

“No,
you don’t want to know why I have rope in my room.”Samantha finished the knot she was working on after answering
Carson’s second question first.“The
pastel wasn’t my idea; my mother decorated both my room, my brother’s and my sister’s.”

"Okay,
now I'm really curious as to why you have rope in your room.”She tried really hard to focus on Sam
instead of the room."You haven't
been sleeping well again; you have dark circles under your eyes.”She had no choice but to resist the urge to
touch Samantha's face since the woman was now busy tying her other hand to the
headboard."OW! You've never
done this before have you?"

Unexpectedly,
Samantha blushed.

“No.I’m used to using handcuffs.”She whispered, shaking her head.“I had the rope because I was going to use
it to sneak out of the room and I haven’t been sleeping well because the last
week has been horrible.My mom threw a
party to fix me up with one of the dozens of eligible bachelors from all the
family friends.”With a tug she
finished on the arm and started on the first leg.

Carson's
eyebrows hiked up into her bangs."Oh, wow.I knew you were a
naughty librarian.Emily owes me 20
bucks.”She frowned a bit, and opened
her mouth and then shut it a few times.Then feeling quite insecure she asked."So did you find an eligible bachelor?"

“HA!”Samantha snorted bitterly.“Of course not.I have this unfortunate habit of falling for annoying women who
apparently can be taken over by a demon’s influence.”She finished with the last leg.“Besides, I’m not a librarian anymore remember?”

"Well
you can't be referring to me, because I'm not annoying, I'm charming.And the whole demon thing....”She paused."I really don't remember what happened or what's happening.I just have vague flashes of memories.”

After
one last check to make sure that the bonds would hold, Samantha sat down on the
edge of the narrow bed.“I haven’t
heard anything outside for a few minutes.”She brushed a lock of Carson’s bright hair out of her face.“Did the demon leave?” she didn’t really
think that was a possibility, but she could hope.

Carson
sighed and closed her now back to normal eyes, she focused on the demon.Her brain was starting to quiet, the evil
voice that sounded an awful lot like her wasn't screaming a bunch of different
things that could be done to her friends, none of them pleasant.With her eyes still closed she
murmured."For future reference
tying my legs goes a little beyond my comfort zone.”

She
could hear the rain still falling, tapping against the window in Samantha's
room then in the blackness behind her eyelids the demon was there screaming at
her, roaring with tooth and claw.With
a gasp of fear she jerked back not even feeling the top of her head connect with
the headboard.

The
inhuman screaming was coming from outside the house, and one side of the house
shuddered as something heavy banged against it.

"No.”Carson squeaked out."She's still here.”Carson shook with fear.She could feel the demon calling for her and
coldness settled deep into her bones.

The
other woman grabbed onto either side of Carson’s head, forcing her to look at
her.“Stay with me.Fight it!Carson, you have to fight it.”

Goose
bumps broke out over her skin and she fought to keep her teeth from chattering,
she was getting colder.She blinked and
looked up into Samantha's eyes the warmth of the other woman's hands nearly
burning her."I'm here.It’s still me.”But the blue in her eyes seemed to have faded a little bit."I'm sorry.I should have been more adult about the break-up, its not like
it’s the first time a girl broke up with me.It just hurt.”A lot.It had hurt more than in the past."I guess I should be happy you over
looked everything about me that annoys you so much, and we had the time we
had.”She cleared her throat feeling a
little exposed and vulnerable, "um...I guess I'm good.Why don't you
go help the three stooges, so we can all live happy, long, lives?”

Samantha
smiled slowly and shook her head.“I
don’t want to help the three stooges, stupid.I want to help you.Emily can
make sure that they don’t get killed.She’s the one that summoned that thing in the first place right?So she’s the one who has to send it
back.I’m not going anywhere.”

Carson
eyed the other woman for a moment."I suppose.This is Emily,
Shaggy, and Jay; they've been without supervision for awhile.For all I know they're having a Star Trek
Marathon on your parents big ass TV.”She went quiet for a while, but Sam didn't move, and after a few more
seconds Carson started to squirm feeling kind of uncomfortable and weak, but
she was after all tied limb by limb to the four posters of the bed."So this is your room, huh?” she said
finally. "No wonder you’re a little cranky with the rest of the
world.”

Dark
eyes narrowed.“What does that
mean?”She flinched as loud banging
started up from outside again and what sort of sounded like chanting from
downstairs.That was all the evidence
Samantha needed that the three musketeers were still alive and being annoying.

"Well,
Jesus, just look at all this horrible pastel paint.It looks almost as if a fairy princess puked in here.Growing up like this and with that ‘Mother’
of yours, I'm pretty certain I would have developed a bitch on wheels attitude
too, just for self-defense.”Carson's
mouth clicked shut, as she saw Sam's eyes narrowing into tiny slits."I mean all of that with love.”She smiled hopefully.

“It
just occurred to me, I should be furious with you.You outted me in front of my mother and my brother.”Samantha smacked the tied up woman’s
shoulder.

Carson
snorted."Whatever.You're mother already knew, remember.And your brother; I'd smack him around even
if I wasn't being manipulated by some demon.What a waste of space.Plus, I
should be mad at you.You were so
scared of bringing me home, ‘cause you'd have to out yourself, that you broke
up with me, but your parents already knew.You could have just told me you weren't out to them yet.I'm not this asshole that you seem to think
I am.I could have just been your
really good friend for the holidays.Even that would have been more fun than taking my alcoholic mother to the
after Thanksgiving sales and getting beat up in a frenzies riot
of Capitalist lust.”She had
started off calm but just gone to shouting in three seconds flat.

Carson’s
eyes were doing that strange color-changing thing again and Samantha leaned
away from her, a worried look on her face.“I said I should be angry with you, but I’m not.Carson, stop!Your letting her win.”She was intensely sorry she’d brought up the outing thing.That was an argument better saved for a
non-possessed day in the future.

Carson
growled and tried to lunge at Samantha but was brought up short by the ropes on
her hands.She chuckled."Nervous.Not too bad with the ropes.”She strained her left hand until the flesh around the rope turned
purple."So you and Heather do
this a lot? So were you the one getting tied up or were you doing the
tying?" Carson pretended to think as she leered at Sam."It’s a tough call.I can see your control freak issue making
you the type but then again often times people who are so controlled in their
every day lives like a little taste of someone else being in control so they
don't have to think or be responsible.So what was it? I could ask if she was better in bed, if that was
what our problem was, but we never got that far.”Carson's eyes were a soulless gray now."Fucking Heather, the great love of your life and in the end
she stole you’re TV and your heart.You
should really come with a warning label, Samantha.”

That
last one hurt, even though Samantha tried to tell herself it wasn’t Carson that
was really talking.Those gray eyes
looked even more out of place after the blue that she’d been used to
seeing.“No, Heather and I didn’t do
this a lot.Remember, we weren’t into
using rope.”She stood up off the bed;
a little worried that Carson might manage to bite her or something.“Besides, at least I stick with
someone.Its not like you fought really
hard to keep me did you?”

Carson's
left hand relaxed resting back against the wood, and the leering face shifted
into an expression of puzzlement."What are you talking about? I am so...I was so...I really liked you.I talked
about you so much Jay and Emily kept telling me to shut up at work.I even respected the fact you preferred to
stay in rather than go out.What did I
do to make you think I didn't want you?"

The
other woman paced back and forth next to the bed, scowling.Now she remembered why she hated talks like
this, besides the entire possessed and probably going to kill her thing of
course.These talks always got messy,
unpredictable and illogical.Things
that didn’t exactly fit well with her worldview.

Then
again, Zombie’s didn’t fit well in her world view either.

She
stopped by the side of the bed and sighed, shoulders slumping slightly.“You didn’t come get me.”

"What?"
That had to be the last thing Carson had expected.Her lips pursed as she thought."I...I...”Her eyes were shifting
again."I'm sorry, I...you didn't seem the damsel in distress
type.I showed up to your place with my
bag and you said, ‘I'm not comfortable with you meeting my parents and that we
should break things off’.I didn't want
you to see me cry so I said fine and stormed off.”She nervously cleared her throat."Um, in this day and age when I girl breaks up with you and
you sort of refuse to accept that and chase after her, its kind of called stalking.”

"A
little stalking isn't that bad a thing.”Samantha shrugged, feeling rather embarrassed by this turn of the
conversation."I didn't say it
made sense, but I was hoping you'd...rescue me from my family I guess.”

Carson
was a little surprised at that."Okay, I'll add that to the list.Sam thinks stalking is okay.”She chuckled, "Yeah, that really doesn't make sense.Even if I was going to go the route of the
obsessive stalker, I kind of need a car.Mine got destroyed by zombies.Then there was the fact I didn't know where your folks lived.”Her chuckles turned into a big belly laugh,
"Oh God, I never suspected you were a big old girl underneath that hard as
nails bitch attitude.”

Carson
stopped laughing and shrank back into the bed as much as her bound limbs would
let her."I'll call you Sam if I
want to; it suits you better than Samantha.And how am I annoying?" The bound woman shot back.

“ARGH!”Samantha stomped her foot.“You always do this; you turn everything
into a joke!You can’t go through life
making everything into some sort of comic relief!”The Asian woman narrowed her eyes.“People in school used to call me Sam and tease me about it.”

Carson's
eyes narrowed."Get over it.I'm not one of those kids from school and
I'm sorry I make a joke about most things in life; it’s just a defense
mechanism.But life's pretty funny if
you think about.”Her face was serious,
the look she normally had, that she had caught on to the joke before you, was
gone.

The
other woman gave her an odd look at that.“How can you say life is funny?You’ve faced down Zombie’s and seen the worst that human’s can be.”

"And
that's when you need to find the joke, because if you don't, its so incredibly
depressing I'd want to take a gun to my head.”She bit her lip, debating how much more to say.

Samantha
moved closer to the edge of the bed, bending so that she was even closer.“What else?There’s something more isn’t there?”She searched Carson’s face for a clue.

"Sam,
I'm the leader.If I had freaked out
and shown how scared I was do you think we would have made it out alive?You think Jay, Emily, and Shaggy would have
kept going? So I cut up, and goof off and people forget how scary the
world is, I forget how lonely and scary it can be.You've lived here your whole life; your parents still married,
this hasn't changed your whole life, it remains secure and steady.When I was six I got shipped off to several
different foster homes for about 2 years, till my mom got her shit together and
got custody of me again.”She blew out
a breath."It was...well, people were nicer if I made them
laugh.”She frowned and looked away
feeling a bit uncomfortable revealing so much.

Reaching
out, Samantha brushed a lock of hair out of Carson’s face.“You don’t always have to joke with me
though.I know the world is hard.I know that things hurt.You don’t have to pretend with me all the time.”

Carson
tried to shrug, but it didn't work out very well."I'm sorry, I just, well...you make me nervous and you can say some pretty mean and cutting things
so I just unconsciously try to diffuse it with a joke.Half the time when we were sort of dating I
wasn't even sure you liked me.”

Samantha
rolled her eyes.“Of course I like you,
I thought that was pretty obvious when we were making out in that locker under
Bill’s place, remember?”She couldn’t
help but grin at that memory, despite how embarrassing it had been at the time
to be found by the three musketeers.

Carson
brightened a bit at the memory, her blue-gray eyes seeming to shine a lot more
blue."Nothing like the threat of
death and doom to make a little make out session that more intense.Although making out with you at the theater
and your couch and that book store those were all great, don't get me wrong
you’re a fantastic kisser.”

Leaning
closer, Samantha's smile changed."You're a good kisser too.”She whispered, closing in on her lips.

"Hey,
Sam, do you....AH!"Jay screamed from the door as he stared at
the scene in front of him.Carson tied
up and Samantha kissing her was more than the poor man could take.

Carson's
eyes snapped open in irritation, and she growled at Jay."You're timing sucks buddy.”

The
Pakistani man covered his eyes with his hand, moaning in pain."My eyes, I think they just exploded.”

Samantha
sighed and leaned her head on Carson's shoulder."I think it might be our timing that sucks,” she whispered.

"I'm
going to rip his spleen out through his asshole.”Carson snarled, a little over the top."Come on, Sam; just loosen the ropes on my arms,” she
grumbled smirking as Jay cowered in the doorway."No, no, no, anytime you kiss me our timing is great,” the
bound woman insisted, as she leaned her head over to rest it against Sam's
enjoying a rare moment of gentle intimacy.

"Don't
mind her Jay; she's a little...uh...possessed I guess.”Samantha shrugged, grinning at the cowering
man."See, I'm not the alpha bitch
anymore.Isn't it fun?"

Jay
groaned and nearly slammed his head into the doorway as he tried to turn away,
keeping his hand over his eyes."Please, stop!I can't take
more of this,” he whimpered."I
just came to see if you had holy water or a cross or candles.Shaggy found this web site that says we need
all of those to send the Demon away.”

"Tell
Shaggy that I don't keep holy water around just incase my parents house gets
attacked by demons.”She paused and
then shrugged."Although it's a
good idea after the past few days.”

Regretfully
she got up from her enjoyable resting spot and went to one of the pink colored
cabinets on one of the bedroom walls.

Jay
risked a look and then groaned again at the overwhelming amount of bright cheery
paint that assaulted his eyes and immediately covered them again with his hand.

"I
think I have candles and a cross somewhere here though.”Samantha started digging through her stuff.

Carson
frowned as Samantha sat up.She sighed
as she was ignored some more."So
how goes the demon banishment?” she asked just to break the silence.

"Umm...good I guess?"Jay didn't sound sure about that at
all."I think the demon destroyed
the cars in the driveway.”He paused as
he realized something."You're
Carson right now right?" he asked, hopefully.

Carson
shrugged."I'm not certain.I feel more like me and it gets better when
Sam and I are talking or kissing.Kissing is great.”She got a
goofy look on her face for a moment before she wiped it away."Um, so I wouldn't tell me anything
specific keep it vague.But I'm sure
you three will find away to save me.”She smiled hopefully.

"Ok,”
he agreed quickly."We're going to
get you back though, you have to believe me.Emily and Shaggy are working hard on it right now.”

The
Asian woman returned with a set of still wrapped white candles that she'd
gotten for her birthday and a hefty looking ornate silver cross."Here.”She handed it to him, holding onto the cross as he grabbed it,
waiting for him to meet her eyes."Work fast.She keeps
slipping away.”

They
met their eyes, for once in complete understanding with one another and he
nodded.She let him take the cross then
turned back to the woman on the bed and forced a smile."So how do we keep you here with
me?"

Carson
gave a little wave with one of her bound hands as Jay left then she turned her
attention back to Sam."Um, I
thought we were doing pretty good.I
only had a couple of relapses and no one died,"

"More
of the same, coming right up.”

###########################

Wide
eyed and looking a little pale, Jay stumbled back into the kitchen."Um...um...I...we have candles and a cross.Sam, er, Samantha didn't have any holy
water.”

Emily
looked up from where she was trying to arrange salt into a perfect circle,
which was a lot harder than it sounded, on the white marble tiled kitchen
floor.“Is Carson still acting all
weird?”

Shaggy
grunted something from where he was hunched over his laptop, searching through
web sites.

"You
could...”His voice came out high and
squeaky and he paused to clear his throat."Yes, but Samantha seems to have her contained.”He blushed slightly and put the stuff down
on the table.

The
other man looked up from his computer at that.“Contained?” he looked confused.“How’d Samantha do that?”

"Well
when I was deemed expendable to go search out Sam."He was still miffed about that.Emily was the only one who could send the
demon back and Shaggy had the geek know how to find the information they needed,
he had been deemed the sacrificial red-shirt to go in search of the missing
supplies they needed to finish the binding circle."I found them in this hellish room of horrible pastel colors
and well, she sorta had Carson tied to the bed and they were sort of occupied.”

Shaggy’s
eyes widened and he looked back and forth from Jay to Emily.“Umm, is it bad for me to want to go take
pictures of that?”To which Emily
reached over and smacked him upside the head.“Yes it’s bad!”

“Owe!”Shaggy winced and sighed, turning back to
his laptop.“I didn’t say I was going
to do it, I just kinda wanted to.”

Jahor
laughed a little at that."Well,
that at least answers that.Carson and
Emily had a bet going on whether or not you were gay.He's definitely a 100% American guy.”Jay looked over at his long time friend and studied her face
afraid that she would be hurt by Carson yet again.Not that Carson did anything to encourage Emily, but love, lust
and crushes really didn't make sense.He sat down next to her and asked softly."You okay? I know it sucks.I think everybody who meets Carson is half in love with her, but
honestly you could do better.”

The
Goth shrugged, paying a lot of attention to arranging the circle of salt on the
floor and pretending not to be affected.“I know she likes Sam, although I don’t understand why.That woman is a bitch.”She stopped before she started yelling.“I’m fine.”She offered him a tight smile.

“You
had a bet going on if I was gay?”Shaggy asked, outraged, looking at the two of them.When they ignored him he grumbled to himself
as he went back to looking through the web pages.“I have a lot of porn with women in it for someone who’s gay.”

Jahor
reached out and patted her on the back."You'll find someone who's right for you.”He looked over at Shaggy and said,
"Having a lot of porn on your computer could just suggest that you're in
the closet about being gay.So what's
next? We have a circle, candle...hey how are we going to know where true north, south, east and west are
to set the candles? I can't exactly go outside and check the stars.”

“Oh.”Shaggy blinked, brushing long straggly hair
out of his face.“Umm… anyone have a
compass?And we need a way to lure the
demon into the circle.”

Jay
sighed looking from Emily to Shaggy."Fine I'll go back upstairs and ask Samantha if she has a
compass.”He shuddered and slowly
started back to the stairs.

“Take
some pictures!Ow!”Shaggy yelled after him, getting thwacked on
the back of the head by Emily again.

#######################

Carson moaned softly as Samantha’s hands traced random patterns
over the skin of her abdomen, somehow her shirt had gotten unbuttoned.Normally, said action could be blamed on
her, but since her hands were tied up, it was all Sam’s fault.Goodness, Sam was a good kisser, and she
moaned again, her hands twitching to run through the other woman’s long dark
hair.

As they pulled apart slightly Carson panted, “I’m not liking this
tied up stuff, and I can’t touch you.”

“Uh huh, no touching for you tonight.”Samantha’s smile was wicked as she continued her slow
torment.This was probably the most
pleasant demon fighting that anybody had ever done.It was working though, she had Carson’s undivided attention and
the other woman’s eyes were staying blue.She was also very certain that she could keep this up until the three
stooges finished whatever it was that they were doing downstairs.

One hand trailed lower across Carson’s abdomen, fingers just
grazing under the waistband of her pants.“But I’ll reward you for being so good,” Samantha promised.

Carson
really didn't have a problem begging, and she let out a whimper.Samantha really had no idea how good she had
been over the last couple of months."I can be good, you have no idea.”

“I
can’t believe this,” the former librarian groaned.With a frustrated sigh she arranged Carson’s shirt so that it
wasn’t quite so revealing and whirled on the man in the doorway.“What is it?” she demanded.

He
swallowed a couple of times, "Do you have a compass? We need to make
sure the candles are set at true north, south, east and west.”He refused to turn around."I'm not trying to be difficult, but
you could, I don't know, shut the door.”

With
a growl of frustration, Samantha went over to one of her drawers and yanked it
open.Inside was a toy compass that had
come with one of the Barbie sets that her mother had gotten her.It actually worked, which had been a lot
more interesting than the dolls.Stalking over she shoved it into Jay’s hands and then shoved him out the
door.“Good idea.”She smiled unpleasantly at him and then
slammed it shut.“Go get the demon!”
she yelled from inside.

Carson wiggled on the bed eagerly,
"You have all sorts of neat stuff hidden in this pastel nightmare don't
you?"

Making sure the door was closed,
Samantha returned to the bed.“Let’s
not talk about my room okay?I think we
have better things to do.”She set
about distracting her once again.